National Executive Committee

Kia ora, I joined the society in 2004 as a PhD student. I've served on the National Committee since 2009, with a short break from 2017-2019. My research is concentrated on palynology (pollen analysis) with a focus on Quaternary environmental reconstructions. I have a special interest in the Quaternary history of the Chatham Islands, where I carried out my PhD research. I'm really pleased to be able to continue as a National Committee member, and very proud of the work the Society does in supporting the Geoscience community in Aotearoa. 

I have been a member of the Society since the early 90's as a student and I'm the current Treasurer of the GSNZ, based at NIWA Wellington. My current research is primarily focused on post-glacial marine dispersal and depositional events on continental shelves, slopes and basins. Collaborative research within active research programmes includes the application of detailed analysis of sediment cores, event chronology, and paleoseismology, all of which use high resolution seismic, multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, and sedimentary physical properties. This work embraces a range of environmental drivers for sedimentary processes including climate, tectonics, volcanism, and human-induced land-use change. In addition, my research and commercial activities are ongoing into techniques for seafloor characterization and quantifying sediment dispersal.

Kia ora, I am a free-lance geologist and science communicator with a diverse background in mineral exploration, teaching, research and presenting scientific information in ways that are accessible and meaningful to non-scientists. I joined the GSNZ National Committee in 2020 and look forward to helping promote geoscience around New Zealand and overseas.

I am the current newsletter editor for GSNZ and I am based in Christchurch.

Additionally, I am a science communicator and hold a master’s degree in that field from the University of Otago. My research examined geotourism as a vehicle for science communication. How do people interpret landscape features on their travels and what do they think about geology and its conservation? What do they understand about our geological context? I followed a visitor-centred, interpretive approach to explore these questions and looked at the role of geotourism for communicating science, in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Insight from the findings informed the design, and content, of a multimedia e-book guide to the geology and landscape of The Catlins.

As a photographer, videographer, writer and designer, I’m keen to raise the profile and appeal of geoscience to citizens of Aotearoa and visitors alike. 

I am a geochronologist/sedimentologist at GNS Science, Lower Hutt. My research mainly involves using geology, petrology and various radiometric dating techniques to understand the geological evolution of the New Zealand continent (Zealandia) over the past ~500 million years. As the Publications Convenor I am primarily responsible for facilitating and promoting new GSNZ publications.

Principal Scientist and Team Leader of the Geodynamics Team at GNS Science. Main areas of research: Tectonic geomorphology and Geodynamics. Favourite tectonic setting: Collisional mountain belts especially the Southern Alps and Himalaya. Member of the GSNZ National Committee

Angela Griffin is a geologist in the Basin Analysis Team at GNS in Lower Hutt, and has been working at GNS Science for the last 12 years. She holds an MSc in Earth Science and Geography from the University of Waikato. Angela’s professional interests were predominantly centred around borehole image log and wireline log analysis, however since the dis-establishment of government-funded petroleum geoscience research at GNS, Angela is currently retraining and redeploying her skills in other areas of research, in particular liquefaction and groundwater studies. Angela is also the project leader of GNS’s carbon emissions reduction plan.

I am Organic Geochemist/Biogeochemist at GNS Science and Lead Scientist of our GNS/VUW Organic Geochemistry Laboratory. My research is focused on biomarkers (organic compounds, often called molecular fossils), and their compound-specific stable isotope composition to reconstruct environmental and climate changes from sediments (lakes, coastal and marine environments), soils, sedimentary rocks and petroleum. I am also Adjunct Teaching Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington and serve as Associate Editor of Biogeosciences, NZ Journal of Geology and Geophysics and NZ Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. I am also the Convener of Geochemistry Special Interest Group.